Understanding Triplet Rhythms for Beginners | Your Easy Guide to 8th-Note Triplets

“What’s all this I’m hearing about triplets, and why am I having so much trouble with them?” This lesson breaks down and explains the most common of the notorious triplets…the 8th note triplet! I will tell you what a triplet is, how to count it, and how to listen for it. As a bonus, I’m going to explain to you how to process rhythms without having to count them so that you can be your musical best!

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🎧LESSON INDEX
0:00 Intro
1:03 Defining 8th Note Triplets
2:43 Counting Triplets
5:04 Identifying Triplets By Ear
10:17 How to NOT Count Triplets and Other Rhythms

💡 LESSON TOPICS:
♪ What’s a triplet?
♪ What a triplet looks like on the page
♪ Quarter notes and “straight” 8ths
♪ Identifying triplets by ear
♪ Not confusing triplets with 1/16th
♪ Feeling the beat without having to count
♪ Squeezing 3 triplets into the space of 2 8th notes
♪ You need to hear the 4th note to know how long the 3rd one is. If the 3rd note is longer than the first 2, they are not of equal value!
♪ Counting beats in the measure
♪ Steps to dealing with rhythms
*1) FEEL the beat: the place where you tap your foot
*2) Feel the UNDERLYING rhythm: the foundational rhythm that is contained WITHIN the beat
♪ Musical multitasking
♪ Learn the rhythm by counting it, but it needs to eventually be automatic for you - without thinking about numbers!

🧑 ABOUT ME
My name is Alex, and my passion is teaching music online. I’m a bass player and composer by training and trade, but what I really love to do is teach. I make my living teaching private lessons on Bass, Guitar, Piano, and Ukulele. My favorite thing to teach is theory - helping the students understand the “why” behind the music and empowering them to make better and more informed musical choices. I’m very adamant about teaching technique. This is how you gain power and control over your instrument and ultimately raise the ceiling on where your limits are and where they will be in the future.

I appreciate you participating in learning music with me, either for free through my videos or in private lessons in my virtual studio. Players of all abilities and backgrounds are welcome! There’s no music lesson I don’t love.